


Reminiscing

by JAMoczo



Category: Baldur's Gate
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-03
Updated: 2013-08-03
Packaged: 2017-12-22 07:53:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/910751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JAMoczo/pseuds/JAMoczo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While the Child of Bhaal lies in a coma, her companions are left to dwell on why they've followed her all the way to Amkethran.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

I.

"So, you and my sister, huh?"

Anomen Delryn looked up from his half-full tankard and into the inquisitive face of Imoen. The knight smiled good-naturedly, although at this point it was taking a good deal of his energy to even keep his head up that high. "I was wondering when you were going to give me the 'sister talk.'"

"Yeah," Imoen's ears turned pink, a shade darker than her hair, "I overheard Sarevok threatening you and was kinda like, _crap_ , guess what _I_ forgot to do!"

Anomen took another drink and grimaced – something about Amkethran ale burned the tongue in what was a decidedly unpleasant way; not that Anomen liked alcohol to begin with, but when all one can do is worry, drink is not a terrible way to spend the time.

One week ago (three hours and seven minutes over exactly, Anomen dourly noted) their adventuring party had confronted Sendai, who was (admittedly self

proclaimed) the most powerful mage Bhaalspawn. Viviane, who was herself a mage, did not take kindly to being second to anyone. Viviane's unique arrogance drove her to challenge Sendai to a one-on-one magic battle. Viviane had won, although it was only by virtue of the fact that she was still alive. Barely.

"To be fair," the warpriest finally admitted, "I am not entirely convinced that Sarevok was threatening me out of some sort of sibling affection for Viviane. It was more of an excuse than anything else."

"I dunno," Imoen said doubtfully, "She keeps calling him her big brother, so maybe he's buying into it?"

"Are you?"

"Nope. Viv's weird – she calls Bhaal 'Daddy' and acts like Sarevok's her big brother, but all 'n' all she doesn't seem to want to, y'know, take Bhaal's place." Imoen frowned. "Can I have some of that?"

Anomen slid the tankard to her. "Help yourself. Grow up with an alcoholic father and you grow a… _distaste_ … for the drink."

"So why're you… oh, yeah. Is she _still_ out cold?"

Anomen nodded.

"Ugh. Never thought I'd say it, but she could out-ego Irenicus. Stupid Viv. Stupid Bhaalspawn. Stupid Bhaal."

"I don't think I've ever seen you this bitter _,"_ Anomen observed.

"I just keep thinking that I could die and it would be part of someone's _plan_ , y'know? Bah. I came here to yell at you about my sister. Quit trying to distract me." She shot him a glare that was not intimidating at all.

"Then do me a favor and finish off the ale."

Imoen snorted.

A silence, not respected by the other members of the inn, fell between the two.

"You know, Anomen, I never really liked you."

"Is that so?" He wasn't surprised.

"It's like I'm gone and when I get back there you are, cozy with my sis and all like 'Order Order Order Order Order.'"

"Surely I-"

"'Order Order ORDER ORDER Order Order!"

"… thank you, Imoen."

"I mean, I don't get it." Imoen put down the tankard and turned on her barstool, facing him directly. "You're passive-aggressive, you're almost as boring as Keldorn and for gods sakes you have _daddy issues!_ If someone _I_ dated had _daddy issues_ I would just put him out of my misery!"

Anomen smiled as he recalled the not-so-distant past.

* * *

" _Ah, I see. I must admit, my lady, that I am rather jealo_ _us of you – you had Gorion, and I had Lord Cor, a drunken- my lady? What's wrong?" Anomen felt the cold hands of death as he noticed the foul glare of evil that Viviane was giving him, her ice-blue eyes narrowed. It would never cease to amaze him how the sun elf's head came up to his mid-chest, yet she was far more intimidating than he ever was._

_"So your father is an alcoholic?" she said softly._

_His mind telling him to shut up and run, he stupidly voiced, "Aye, he-"_

_"My father," she hissed, her hands clenched, "is the God of Murder, whose plan to bring himself back to life was to EAT ME, his essence haunts my dreams, his blood boils in my veins and did I MENTION THAT MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS WANT ME DEAD, JUST 'CAUSE?"_

_"Actually, I believe they're trying to kill you so that they can ascend," Anomen said, his mind shouting a chorus of "Shut up, moron!"_

_"_ _**IF YOU EVER, I MEAN EVER, COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR DAD AGAIN, I SWEAR TO MYSTRA I WILL TURN YOU** _ _**INTO** _ _**YOUR SISTER** _ _!" She calmed considerably. "And I think you know what I mean by that."_

_"… yes, yes I do." He made a mental note to get his codpiece magically enhanced for extra protection._

* * *

In retrospect, she probably would have been disappointed had she gone through with that threat. The thought made him grin (stupidly, Imoen thought).

"Oooooookay. Um, anyhow, as I said, I don't like you. Viviane seems to, although she does threaten you a lot."

"She does that with everyone. Except for you, I noticed. And Keldorn."

"Well, I'm cheery ol' Imoen. And Keldorn would _so_ smite her ass. Anyhow – damn, I can't seem to keep focused – contingent on Viviane ever waking up again, if you hurt my baby sister I'll so backstab you."

"She's older than you."

"Shorter, though. As long as I can beat her in an arm-wrestling match, I get to be the big sister."

"Point. And at this point I've been told I'll get backstabbed-" he gestured to Imoen, "Sarevok mentioned something about hanging me with my own entrails, and way, way back when, Jaheira said that if I hurt Viviane she would trap me in a tree for eternity. Adding to that Viviane's own threats on my health and future ability to make a child… I promise Viviane's honor is safe with me."

"Speaking of…" Imoen began, leaning on the bar, "whatever happened to Jaheira? She just sort of… wasn't there when I was rescued but was there when I was captured. I never thought Viv would get rid of her."

Anomen grimaced.

_"I… you're casting me aside? I stood by you through a difficult time! I thought I was more than just a random party member to you! I betrayed and killed my own brethren for you!" Jaheira cried._

_"Aw, Jaheira, don't take it too hard! It's just that there's no room for you on my party!" Viviane tried to console her._

_"You're replacing me with a bard!" Jaheira roared, clearly less upset and more furious._

_"Look at him! Look at his weird markings! He's got blue hair and calls me a bird! He's crazy!" Viviane said cheerfully, pointing at Haer'Dalis, who shrugged magnanimously._

_"I actually have names for all of you," he supplied._

_"See! And besides, Jaheira, all a druid is is a priest who worships trees-"_

_Jaheira's jaw dropped due to Viviane's blatant disrespect for her religion._

_"and I already have two priests – Anomen, who is actually more irritating than you; for example, he's not talking to me right now because he's mad that I'm not evil," she looked at Anomen and shook her head, "and Viconia, who's a drow!"_

_"Is that all I am to you?" Shar's priestess snapped back. "Everywhere we go, you introduce me as 'a drow.' Not even '_ _**the** _ _drow.' Every. Single. Time. My ears are pointed, my skin is black and my hair is white; people know I am a drow before you open your mouth, darthiir."_

_"Look, she speaks drow! So, sorry, Jaheira, but there's just no room for you. Good luck with the Harpers – oh wait, we killed them. Um, good luck with the druids?"_

_Jaheira stormed out._

_"All right team! Let's move on out! It's time to finally go talk to that random lady in the graveyard about the suspicious business deal that she wouldn't know we were interested in unless she was spying on us!" Viviane declared._

_The team moved out of the Five Flagons._

_"Boo feels guilty for leaving Jaheira," Minsc voiced._

_"Now now Minsc," Viviane replied, "Technically Jaheira left_ _**us** _ _."_

_"We pushed her," Anomen pointed out._

_"Hey Anomen, my easy time dealing with my evil heritage makes you feel inadequate. Think about it some more."_

_"Hey lady, your money or your life!" A group of ruffians slid out of the shadows of a nearby building, obviously looking to make some coin._

_"Minsc and Boo will plant our foot – er, Minsc's foot – so far up your backside you will never do evil while walking again!" Minsc declared._

_"We'll just see about that, ey?" Usually the muggers tended to question who Boo was, but thankfully this group was all business._

_The battle ensued, Anomen moving to his place to defend Viviane, who was refusing to purchase a magic license from the Cowled Wizards and thus spent Athkatla-bound battles blowing bubbles. She'd tried using magic anyway once. It hadn't turned out well._

Anomen said a silent prayer to Helm for poor, poor Aerie.

_Lying amongst the corpses was a blue-haired, oddly-marked man._

_"… … how dead is he?" Viviane asked, looking sick._

_"Very dead," Yoshimo reported, looting Haer'Dalis' corpse._

_"Any chance you can bring him back to life?" Viviane asked Anomen, looking up at him._

_"Not in_ _**that** _ _condition, no."_

_"Viconia?"_

_"If you want him as some sort of undead abomination…"_

_"Damn. Oh! I know! Jaheira! You can… oh, crap." Viviane started wandering off into the darkness. "Jaheeeeiiirrraaaa, come baaaaaaaaack! You have to save my baaaaaard! Oh wait! That's right! We have a Rod of Resurrection! Who has it?"_

_Silence._

_"Whoever points out the fact that Jaheira has it is going to get a fireball up the ass," Viviane said, her voice deadly._

_More silence._

_"Well damn! We didn't unequip her, did we?"_

_"Maybe if you did some push-ups you could carry your own things," Yoshimo pointed out._

_"Maybe if you complain some more I'll kick you in the crotch."_

* * *

"So how many people died so that you all could come save me?" Imoen asked, looking a little perturbed.

"If you want me to answer that, I'm going to need some more ale."

Imoen passed the tankard back to him. Anomen took a swig.

* * *

_"How_ _**dare** _ _they! I am a Child of Bhaal! I can cast magic whenever I damn well want to!" Viviane proclaimed, striking a dramatic pose. She had just cast Haste on the party and had been reprimanded by a Cowled Wizard._

_Keldorn, who had grown up in Athkatla and was even trained to kill wizards, gently chided her, "Viviane, while I respect your pride, you are, at the oldest, twenty-five. There are mages amongst the Cowled Wizards who have been training in the magical arts longer than you have been alive."_

_"I'm only twenty still, but-"_

_"Oh, paladin, why even bother?" Viconia asked, sounding bemused, "Her defining attribute is an inexplicable arrogance."_

_"My arrogance is perfectly explicable! I'm Bhaal's obviously favorite daughter! Elminster gives me cookies when I listen! And no one is going to tell me when I can and cannot cast magic!"_

_"This is going to turn out poorly," Anomen voiced._

_"Hey Anomen, you're the one who 'killed twenty Hillnasher giants by himself'," Viviane reminded him a tone that clearly informed him that she didn't believe him, "This shouldn't be any problem for you, oh righteous smiter of smiterness."_

_Keldorn snorted, more in derision than anything else._

_"Okay, let's teach the Cowled Wizards to not mess with a Child of Bhaal!" She cast Magic Missile at what was apparently the darkness._

_"You could have at least cast a useful spell…" Aerie voiced softly._

_Six Cowled Enforcers appeared. "This is an unsanctioned use of magical energy. You have been warned." The six activated their high-level protection magics. One of them summoned a hakeashar._

_"RUN! RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN!" Viviane screamed, grabbing the closest person, Viconia, and sprinting away. The others wisely followed suit._

_Aerie stared at the Ring of True Action on her finger, which prevented her from being hasted._

_The others watched as she was turned to stone by a Flesh to Stone spell, and watched as the hakeashar, well, broke her._

"Ugh," Imoen said.

"It gets worse."

_The team had just returned from Trademeet to Athkatla. They had just found out that Cernd had an 'illegitimate' child and had just left his old maid's house._

_"Ah, yes, I understand why she does not respect my ways. My wife was much the same way. We were like a noble heffalump and the ignoble woozle; though we both desire honey, we have different methods of attaining it."_

_"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Viviane screamed, her rage turning into fire and catching on Cernd's clothes. The druid let out a cry of surprise and, while trying to put out the fire, threw himself off the home sector of Waukeen's Promenade._

_"Oops," Viviane said, a look of disgust on her face._

_Six Cowled Enforcers appeared. "This is an unsanctioned use of magical energy. You have been warned." The six activated their high-level protection magics. One of them summoned a hakeashar._

_"RUN! RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN!" Viviane screamed, grabbing the closest person, Viconia, and sprinting away. The others wisely followed suit._

* * *

"And Viviane didn't buy a magic license _why?_ " Imoen asked, looking a little bit appalled.

"She bought herself a Robe of Vecna instead," Anomen replied with a sigh.

Imoen sighed too. "I love her, but she sure is cheap."

"Unless she's spending the money on herself, yes. And I'm not even done yet."

"You're joking."

"Regrettably, no."

* * *

_As she tended to do when confronted by other mages, Viviane regarded the red-clad wizard with her neck arched back a bit, trying her best to raise her nose. "What do_ _**you** _ _want?" she asked coolly._

_The Red Wizard of Thay was regarding her in much the same manner. Meanwhile, Edwina was hiding behind Minsc (the irony not being lost on anyone except for the ranger in question, irony not being his forte), for fear of her life._

_"I am hunting a renegade Red Wizard known as Edwin. Have you seen him?" he inquired._

_Viviane turned and pointed. "Chick in the red."_

_"Uh!" Edwina responded indignantly._

_"That is a female," the Red Wizard replied with scorn._

_Viviane chortled before laughing. To be fair, she'd done so every time she'd happened to look at the Thayvian. She'd nearly suffocated due to laughter when Anomen had jokingly asked to be Edwina's champion._

_"THIS IS NOT FUNNY, VIVIANE! NONE OF IT!" the wizardess roared in a rare display of outright fury._

_Viviane collapsed into a fetal position, laughing hysterically._

* * *

"Wait, how did Edwin become a girl?" Imoen asked, looking as if she herself wanted to giggle.

"Some tome of something or another. I take it you remember Edwin; you probably understand."

"He wasn't the sharpest dagger on the rack, even though he would tell you he was. So I take it the other Red Wizard took him back to Thay?"

"Killed him, actually. Hmmm, who else…"

"You mustn't forget Yoshimo," came the deep voice of someone behind the two bar-sitters. Both looked up at Keldorn, who, looking exhausted, sat down on Anomen's other side. "I take it we are reminiscing?" the veteran inquired.

"Not so much reminiscing as filling in ol' Imoen on the ins and outs of what happened before you all saved her," Imoen replied. Fleetingly, Anomen had to wonder how she could manage to sound cheerful.

"Ah, I see. I suppose we never did have time to sit down and discuss things, as we do now," Keldorn admitted. "Then I suppose you recall Yoshimo's betrayal – there would be no need to recount it." The old paladin still looked angry. "I," he harshly changed the subject, "have not been to visit Viviane as of late. How is she?"

Anomen took the shared tankard from Imoen and finished it off. "Unconscious."

There was mirthful chuckling and Viconia walked over to the bar, sitting on the other side of Imoen. "And the male is helpless without his female – just the way it should be!"

Anomen ordered another tankard.

"I understand that the only thing blacker than your skin is your heart, but do you not feel _any_ sort of compassion for Viviane? She who ignored your race – damn her for doing so! – and gave you a chance?" Keldorn demanded, still sounding angry. Imoen had never even seen the paladin address the drow, and was perplexed about the fact that Keldorn was considerably nicer to Sarevok than Viconia.

The drow looked haughtily away.

"So did anyone other than those sitting here and upstairs survive?" Imoen asked nervously, desperately trying to break the tension.

Viconia smiled cheerfully. "Oh, are we talking about the peons who fell in Viviane's wake?"

Anomen was a little surprised to find himself thinking that he wished Keldorn and Viconia had never shown up. "Valygar survived," he offered to Imoen. He was starting to feel the effects of the ale.

* * *

_"So Viviane," Valygar intoned, "Have you had much experience with magic in your journeys?"_

_Viviane looked at him. She gave a nervous giggle but abruptly stopped when she realized he was actually being serious. She picked a piece of imaginary lint off her mage robe._

_He continued to stare at her._

_She started rubbing an imaginary smudge on her mage staff._

_He sighed impatiently. "Well?"_

_She awkwardly twisted her mage rings, not sure what to say._

_"Answer the question. It's not that hard of a question."_

_"I think you should go," she said at length._

* * *

"The short one survived, as did the dwarf," Viconia replied airily, "But paladin, I've noticed that for the first time since you attempted to kill me – and failed, might I add – you have actually addressed me! Have you decided that I am redeemable, or are you just attracted to my," she cleared her throat delicately, "charms, shall I say, as you are not receiving any from your wife?"

The entire tavern went silent as Keldorn abruptly stood up, reaching to draw the Holy Avenger from its resting place on his back. Anomen quickly moved to stand between the enraged paladin and the chuckling drow. "Sir Keldorn," Anomen said as authoritatively as possible, "I must say I've never seen you this way! Trying to murder someone so much weaker than you in cold blood, and in public?"

"Weaker?" Viconia protested loudly. Imoen covered her mouth.

The veteran stared him down. For the first time, Anomen wondered who would win in a fight. _Probably Keldorn_ , he admitted silently.

Reluctantly, Keldorn calmed. "Aye," he admitted, "it's been… rather stressful here as of late." He chuckled. "I can't believe I let the drow get to me. I must have forgotten that I have decided she doesn't exist. … can I have some of the ale?"

The two men were still standing. Anomen reached down and pushed the tankard over. "Try not to drink too much. Your love may be countless miles away, but mine's in a coma."

"And you win. And besides, the only reason I failed," it was clear Keldorn was speaking to Viconia again, "in your demise was through no talent of _yours_."

Viconia's scowl deepened.

"I don't know this story," Imoen whispered to Anomen as he sat down. "Spill!"

He glanced to Keldorn, to Viconia, then shrugged. "Aye, as you wish."

* * *

_"Your time is done, drow," Keldorn practically hissed as he drew his sword, "I gave_ _you your warning."_

_Viconia classically looked haughty. "How noble… and how foolish."_

_Viviane sprinted from her place at the front of the group and moved between them, her arms spread wide as she stood in front of Viconia. "Stop, stop, stop, stoppity-stop-stop!"_

_"Move, Viviane," Keldorn growled._

_"Bad Keldorn, very bad!" She had a look of determination on her face._

_"I can handle him, elf," Viconia spat._

_"Uh-huh, right, you, the frailest drow that ever did drow, against him, a trained killer. Uh-huh. Keldorn, this is the most one-sided fight ever! I mean,_ _**I** _ _could take Viconia in a fight, even without magic!"_

_"You?_ _**You** _ _are so weak you can barely walk under your own power!"_

_"Now Keldorn," Viviane continued, ignoring the irritated drow, "she may be unabashedly evil, but that doesn't necessarily make her a bad… person… okay, maybe it does, but she has yet to eat babies or sacrifice kittens to Shar, can't we just get along? Please?"_

_Keldorn's expression didn't change. "Move, Viviane," he repeated._

_"Killing Viconia is bad and un-Orderly. If I didn't let Anomen kill the dude who may or may not have killed his sister, I'm sure not going to let you kill Viconia because she's a drow!"_

_"Leave me out of this, please," Anomen said pleadingly, backing up slowly. Yoshimo followed suit. Minsc looked pained, as if he wanted to aid the noble paladin but clearly had nothing against the drow in question (he personally found her to be hilarious)._

_There was clearly a stand off. "Move, Viviane," Keldorn reiterated._

_"No, Keldorn," she replied in the same tone._

_Viconia yawned behind her._

_"Killing Viconia is bad. If nothing else, she is a very good cleric and we'll need to her to rescue Imoen."_

_"We have… Anomen…" Keldorn sounded as if he didn't quite believe what he was saying. Anomen decided to feel offended but not say anything. "He's a… good cleric…"_

_"Think about party dynamics! He's a half-cleric, so he's our supplement cleric. Unless you can pull another full cleric out of your holy ass, we're keeping Viconia!"_

_"Apparently I supplement you," Anomen said to Viconia._

_"Well of course, darling. You thought you were as good a cleric as I? You might want to try switching to a better deity if you ever hope to become the team's primary cleric."_

_Keldorn finally lowered his sword. "I… suppose she is useful, for the time being. Any chance your friend Imoen is a cleric?"_

_"Nope."_

_"Damn." Keldorn still didn't look happy._

_"How about if you don't convert her to an acceptable level of good by the end of the quest,_ _**then** _ _you can smite her?" Viviane suggested._

_Viconia gasped in indignation. "How callous! Half-drow bitch!"_

_It was Viviane's turn to gasp. "I just saved your life! Don't make me make him attack you, lady!"_

* * *

"The two ended up arguing about something completely unrelated and mundane for the rest of the trip. Keldorn, as you no doubt have noticed, never smote Viconia, and the two haven't spoken since," Anomen finished.

"Until now," Viconia chimed in.

Imoen didn't look impressed. "That was rather anticlimactic."

He shrugged. "True enough. If it were actually climactic, then Viconia wouldn't be sitting here, now would she?"

"Point."

"You mean he wouldn't be here," Viconia retorted.

"Yeah, sure, Viccy, _sure._ "

Before Viconia could protest, Anomen stood up abruptly. "I ought to go check on Viviane," he muttered, more to himself than to the others.

"Tell us if she's woken up," Imoen replied with a wave.

Anomen crossed his fingers and walked to the back of the inn.


	2. Anomen

II.

Anomen decided it was time to relieve Sarevok of Viviane-guarding duty. No one was truly sure why Sarevok, one of the few without healing magics, insisted on standing guard over his half-sister, but Sarevok was the only one who hadn't left Viviane's side since her collapse. It seemed that he had been honest with Anomen when he said that he was seeking redemption (although Anomen wanted to point out that his bias towards his sister was not making this an entirely selfless act; but then again, what did he know?) and was beginning with trying to nurture his sister back to an acceptable level of living.

She was lying on her back, neatly tucked in. She looked rather peaceful, as did Sarevok – until, of course, the armored figure noticed Anomen and the passive expression instantly turned to a scowl. "Your attendance is not warranted, cleric."

Anomen's fists clenched, but he reigned in his temper. "You're no longer a demi-god, you know. I can see in your face and stature that you haven't slept or eaten since Viviane-"

"Your attendance is not _wanted_ , cleric," Sarevok said, much harsher than before.

The cleric in question, deciding not to be daunted (he wasn't sure if it was because he'd already faced down Keldorn and was feeling brave or if it was because he was drunk), walked to the other side of the bed and sat down in a gesture of defiance. "You could at least take off your armor," Anomen pointed out.

"If I wanted your opinion, I would cut out your tongue and take it from you."

Sarevok always had an effective way of ending a conversation, Anomen had to admit.

The two prospective brothers-in-law sat in silence. Sarevok was firmly staring at the floor, and Anomen was taking the opportunity to study the former Terror of the Sword Coast more effectively. He had heard plenty of stories about how Sarevok had orchestrated a plot that nearly killed his sisters – both the one known to him and the one unknown; however, Anomen had also been present when Sarevok had asked for a new chance at life and Viviane had not only granted him the same but gave him a hug when she did so. It led to the confused, morally questioning and morally questionable killer that sat silent in the room with him now.

"Bhaal apparently had very big eyes," Anomen said astutely.

Sarevok's eyes were narrowed as they glared. "Even _I_ thought you were smarter than to think Bhaal took one form. She is an elf, and I am a human; clearly Bhaal was not the same when he 'visited' our respective mothers."

"But both of you have really big, light eyes," Anomen continued, not sure where he was going with this other than the fact that he was just drawing comparisons, "Come to think of it, so does Imoen. Granted, neither of their eyes glow and the colors are all different, but, maybe when Bhaal went around he didn't change all that much?"

Sarevok was silent. "Your point?"

"Maybe you're more alike in other ways as well?" Anomen continued, more talking to himself than to Sarevok. "I often don't think of you all as siblings, but maybe Viviane has a point when she calls you big brother. Hmmm…"

Sarevok's gaze returned to the floor.

"All of you seem to excel at at least one thing," Anomen continued, "Although for all three of you it's different – I'm sure Imoen would be a much better mage than she is now if only Viviane let her cast magic –but it's still uncanny that all of you Bhaalspawn are the best at your chosen professions."

"As long as that profession is killing, yes," Sarevok agreed.

"And all of you, it seems to me at least, have a penchant for being overdramatic and arrogant, Viviane most of all, I must say. Although you come in a close second."

"Overdramatic or just accurate?"

"Overdramatic."

* * *

_"I WILL DESTROY YOU! I WILL TAKE OUR SIRE'S POWER AND BECOME THE NEW LORD OF MURDER!" Sarevok roared, standing in the Undercity's Temple of Bhaal._

_"OH, HELLS NO!" his younger sibling, an extremely short big-eared elf of all things, screamed back, "YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME? BRING IT THE FRICK' ON, BIG GUY!"_

_Sarevok drew out his sword. "THEN FACE THE NEW LORD OF MURDER IF YOU DARE, SISTER!"_

_"OH, I DARE! I SO TOTALLY DARE! I'LL KILL YOU_ _**AND** _ _YOUR LITTLE FRIENDS!"_

_"NO, I'LL KILL_ _**YOU** _ _AND_ _**YOUR** _ _FRIENDS!"_

_"NO-"_

_"We are so very, very,_ _**very** _ _doomed," an elf in her party commented._

* * *

_"Irenicus! We're going to send you to the Hells where you belong!" Imoen cried, her voice clearly not used to shouting battle cries._

_Her older sister decided to help out. "I'm going to pull my soul out of your chest if I have to, Exile, and I'll enjoy it!"_

_"Souls don't work like that, Child of Bhaal," Irenicus pointed out._

_"… … … shut up! You are so dead!"_

* * *

_"DEATH COMES FOR YOU! FEEL ITS ICY BREATH!" Sarevok screamed as he destroyed yet another opponent._

_"Ooo, I like that one!" Viviane said appreciatively._

_"You can't steal it," Sarevok informed her._

_"Psh. As if I would_ _**want** _ _to!"_

_Imoen patted her on the head. "Don't lie, you want to."_

_"… shut up."_

* * *

_"Milady, it fills me with no small wonder that we have not spoken of our journeys erst we met! We have traveled together for some time and yet know next to nothing of each other!" Anomen began. The group was at camp, and most of the others were sleeping. Viviane, however, wary of the ridiculously complicated dream she'd had the night before, was awake; Anomen had been tasked with keeping watch._

_"Oo, story time! Go ahead!"_

_Anomen looked thoughtful as he tried to think of a good, impressive-sounding story. "Well, my lady, before I joined your group I led a contingent of Order knights against the Hillnasher Giants. I ended up slaying twenty of the beasts using an old, slightly-rusty mace that I had to take from the corpses of one of my comrades. It was a death-filled day indeed, my lady, but our casualties were far less than what had been expected, thanks to my quick acting."_

_Viviane snorted. "You so totally did not do that."_

_"… what? What makes you think-"_

_"'cause there's no way you could kill_ _**one** _ _giant, much less twenty! And who would put_ _**you** _ _in charge of a group of knights when you're just a squire?"_

_Anomen's eyes narrowed in anger. "Well allegedly_ _**you** _ _stopped a war with Baldur's Gate, which you most certainly didn't do!"_

_"Yes I did," she replied matter-of-factly._

_"All right, if I didn't kill twenty giants, you definitely didn't-"_

_"Oh, I totally stopped a war, and killed the next Lord of Murder, yeah."_

_"But you didn't do it by yourself," Anomen pointed out._

_"Yes I did."_

_"… no you didn't, Jaheira told me you had a group-"_

_"I did have a group, that's true, and they helped out in that they were present; I'll not argue with that. But as far as helping by doing things? Psh. I might as well have left them behind. And Jaheira and Minsc weren't even among those present, so they can't refute anything I say."_

_"… … … you stopped a war, by yourself. Alone."_

_"Yep. Kivan killed some kobolds, but other than that…"_

_Anomen had finally met someone with a bigger ego than him. Humbling experience, really._

* * *

_"Hello little sister," Sendai said, her voice sneering with barely-contained revulsion, "You may have slaughtered my armies, but their deaths were not in vain. I have prepared something of a surprise for you!" She gestured to the statues of herself situated around the room. "You have to get through my statues first!"_

_"So you're Sendai, right? Calling yourself the greatest mage Bhaalspawn, which is clearly me? And you're a **d**_ _**row** _ _of all things? Team, you're going to handle her backup, and once Sendai actually decides to show her face, I'll take her." Viviane held up her hand and crooked her finger back towards herself. "Bring. It. On."_

_Sendai smirked, showing particularly sharp teeth. "Consider it brought." She disappeared, and the battle began._

* * *

The thought of how Viviane had ended up in her coma brought Anomen back to the present, he scowled.

Sarevok seemed bored with the conversation (understandable, since Anomen hadn't yet made a point), and had returned to staring at the floor.

Anomen started regarding the love of his life thoroughly, for the lack of anything better to do. Besides, if nothing else, he had always considered her easy on the eyes, despite her small stature and ridiculously large ears. His original theory was that they were so large she could hear thoughts with them, but that theory had been disproven. It had always surprised him, too, that she had been raised by humans but had an arrogance and superiority always attributed to sun elves; a strong argument in favor of nature, although without knowing Gorion it was hard to know if the wizard himself had been humble.

Anomen couldn't help but remember their conversation on the topic of her elfhood.

* * *

_"Viviane," he murmured to her, caressing her hair and an ear as she lay draped across his chest, "Does it bother you that… that I'm not an elf? I was just wondering – elves seem to have some sort of bond that obviously I can never… give you."_

_She shifted to make herself more comfortable, smiling lazily. "I tried dating an elf once. It didn't turn out well."_

_**Flashback (yes, a flashback within a flashback! For shame!)** _

_Viviane gazed over at her team, which consisted of Xan, Coran, Kivan, Ajantis and Imoen. She had wanted to involve as many elves as possible in order for her to reconnect with her roots, but she happened to think Ajantis was attractive and Imoen had stubbornly refused to leave, so here she was. So far it had been going well, except for the subtle insult-fest going on between Xan, Coran and Ajantis. Quite honestly, she was flattered._

_"So Kivan," she began, going to ask him about Shilmista._

_"Don't bother me."_

_"Why would she? It's not as if conversation would be useful in this situation," Xan proclaimed, "seeing as we're all going to die before the sun rises tomorrow."_

_"Helm will see us through the night!" Ajantis proclaimed._

_"Hey Viviane, why don't we get away from camp for awhile?" Coran asked, his eyes bright, "So I can better compliment your… … eyes."_

_"Coran, what did I say I was going to do to you if you asked me to have sex with you again?"_

_"… … … … I don't remember exactly, but I_ _**do** _ _remember it sounded painful enough for me to turn and ask – hey, Imoen, how'd you like to-"_

_She interrupted him with a pat on the head. "No, no, no, again and again, no."_

_"Can't we get more girls on this team?" he asked with a whine._

_"You're a dishonorable cur!" Ajantis proclaimed._

_"Oh, stuff it."_

_"He's right, you know," Kivan pointed out. Xan nodded enthusiastically._

_"So Xan, tell me a little bit about Evereska," Viviane asked, a little desperate._

_"It was beautiful," the enchanter said wistfully, "And I can never go back there, ever. Thank you for reminding me of my misery, Viviane. It helps me when trying to quell any sort of hope I feel."_

_"… … you're welcome?" "So how old are you, Viviane?" Coran asked invitingly._

_"Twenty," she answered._

_The three elves stared at her openly. "Oh Seldarine!" Xan gasped._

_"What?" Imoen asked, "What's wrong?"_

_Kivan actually started laughing for the first time since he'd join the quest. He turned to Xan and Coran and said something in elfish that Viviane didn't know the wording for, but knew the meaning – "Cradle robbers!"_

_Coran looked a little haunted. "I knew… I mean, I know I always go for younger women, but you… you're just… you…"_

_"A child! Oh Corellan, I've been falling in love with a child! I should be offering her a lollipop, not my heart! Now I'm doomed_ _**and** _ _damned!" Xan wailed._

_"You've been_ _**what** _ _?" she asked._

_"Hey Viviane, would you like my lollipop?" Coran asked._

_"Oka -- waaaaaaiiiiiit a second, no!" she snapped._

_**(end the flashback within a flashback... I feel ashamed of myself right now.)** _

_She gave a great sigh. "Not well at all," she reiterated. "Although now I remember just how annoying I find Helmites. Oh well. Too late now I guess."_

_"You_ _**guess** _ _?"_

* * *

There were times when merely seeing her made him realize that he was on the right path; that he was in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. And then there were times when Anomen had to question what in the hells he was doing. And, a testament to the woman in question, there were times when both were happening simultaneously.

* * *

_"So you must be Saerk! I am Sir Anomen Delryn, son of Lord Cor and brother of Moira! You will die for your crimes against my family!"_

_Anomen was certain the merchant said something, but it didn't matter because at that very moment he was tackled from behind. Well, not exactly "tackled" because that would imply that he lost his balance, or fell, or something; no, more accurately Viviane jumped on his back and tried to get him in a chokehold._

_He had to wrestle her off him. "Viviane! What in the hells are you doing here!"_

_She stared up at him defiantly. "I'm not going to let you kill him!"_

_"Why!"_

_"Because it's bad! If I didn't let Keldorn kill Viconia because she's a drow, then I'm… not… Geez! What is wrong with you people?" she demanded, looking at Keldorn. The paladin in question didn't look ashamed. "Why do I have to keep stopping you crazy knights from killing stuff? And_ _**I'm** _ _supposed to be the murderous one! After this we're all going to take paternity tests to make sure none of you are really my siblings!"_

_"And I can't help but notice that you used the Anomen example to stop the Keldorn-Viconia example, and now you're using the Keldorn-Viconia example to try stopping the Anomen example," Yoshimo chimed in cheerfully._

_She pointed at him. "See, and that's why I like you, Yoshimo!"_

_"I try."_

_"Anyhow, Anomen, we are going to turn around and leave this place right. Now. Because I said so!"_

_Anomen clenched his fists. "I never-"_

_Their conversation was cut off by a high-pitched yet distinctly masculine scream of terror. The team all looked to see Saerk being clubbed to death by skeletons, which ignored his cries for mercy._

_"What the… Viconia!"_

_The drow shrugged. "What? I got bored, and I'm evil. It's only natural that I would summon skeletons to kill a human. It's in my nature!"_

_"See, she just admitted to being evil, can I smite her now?" Keldorn asked._

_Viviane face-palmed. "If every Child of Bhaal has to hang out with people like you guys, it's no wonder we're supposed to kill stuff all the time."_

* * *

Anomen had to scowl at the memories associated with his sister's murderer (who was now in a considerable amount of debt for all of the healing he had to endure combined with the fact that they had robbed him blind), but he was startled out of his reverie ( _damn, my mind is flighty when I'm drunk)_ by soft snoring noises coming from the other side of the bed. Upon closer inspection, it was easy to deduce that the snorer in question was actually Sarevok, who had finally succumbed to exhaustion and passed out in his seat.

Anomen debated what to do next. Dragging Sarevok from the room would probably result in his waking up; on the other hand, allowing him to sleep sitting up probably wasn't the best idea anyhow.

In the end, caving in to his own drunkenness, Anomen climbed on the bed with his unconscious lady and soon his snoring joined Sarevok's.


	3. Keldorn

III.

Shortly after Anomen had left, conversation between the remaining party members died out as the three of them continued drinking. Viconia continued looking as if she had won the afore-detailed argument, Imoen looked uncomfortable, and Keldorn was lost in his own thoughts.

Those thoughts had led him back to Athkatla, his home and the home of his family. His _first_ family, he had to admit, as this traveling party had become his second family. Granted, he felt like he was the single father of five very immature children (two of whom, if actually related, would be considered incestuous, and three of whom were actually related), but it helped Keldorn cope with his continued service so far from home. Yes, the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart was another reason why he was here, but he had to admit his presence had transcended mere duty.

Keldorn chuckled merrily as he recalled a happier time.

_"Ahh, it's good to be home," the paladin said fondly upon entering the Government District, "I have been away for too long." "Aww, you used to live here? Which house used to be yours?" Viviane asked him cheerfully._

_"I live here now," he corrected, "with my wife and my children, in that house down there." He pointed to a house in the distance._

_It started raining over Viviane's head. "Oh," was all she said._

_He was finding it hard not to laugh. It was no secret to the perceptive paladin that the young mage had a crush on him, as every time he spoke up with a suggestion she enthusiastically followed it, and she also had a habit of fluttering her eyelids and tossing her hair while talking to him. The part of it that amused him the most was the miffed expression that Anomen, who was clearly yet subtly trying to court her, got whenever she did so. "Yes, my wife, Maria, and my daughters, my little Vesper and Leona, live in that house down there, and I live there when the Order does not call for me."_

_"But you don't get there very often, right?" she asked hopefully, now completely soaked._

_"Not as often as I would like, but every once in awhile I make it to visit with my family, whom I love," he said gently, yet firmly. "Would you like to come meet them?"_

_She looked at the floor, frowning. "No," she grumbled, "No, I don't wanna meet your stupid family. Stupid... stupid... stupid."_

_He chuckled and started walking towards his old house. "Nonsense, Viviane, I am sure that Maria would like you. Come, I will introduce all of you."_

_Minsc and Viconia followed him, Minsc looking thrilled to meet the family of one he respected as much as Keldorn and Viconia looking downright bored._

_Yoshimo walked over and guided Viviane out of the raincloud and started walking her to the Firecam Estate. "Keep in mind," he said, then referring to her as something in Kara-Turan while wrapping his arm around her shoulders, "that he's in his fifties, you're in your twenties, **and** you have a good, what is it, thousand years left to you."_

_"Yeah, but-"_

_"You'll find your own knight some day," he said cheerfully, winking at Anomen over her head. The knight-in-training looked flustered._

The smile faded from his face as he recalled what happened next; Maria's betrayal. He pretended it didn't bother him, but distinctly un-paladin urges often resurfaced whenever he thought of Sir William of Thorpe and how he -

Keldorn forced himself to cut off that train of thought. _Along that path lay madness_ , he admitted to himself. There was no point in thinking of unpleasant past memories. Besides, everything would be fine once this enemy was smote. He hoped.

Viviane had made it clear that after defeating Sendai she wanted to take a detour to Watcher's Keep before confronting Abazigal. Then there was the mysterious fifth member of the Five, and... It made Keldorn wonder if it would ever end. He was honor-bound and affection-bound to see this through to the end, but what if it never ended?

He took another sip of the ale and forced himself to see the bright side. It was a tactic he was using more and more recently.

They had defeated every enemy that crossed their path, even in the face of seemingly invincible odds. Even if it had only been done begrudgingly.

" _VIVIANE!_ " _Keldorn protested, sounding infuriated as the team left Firekraag's lair, "We cannot just leave the dragon! It's a disruptor of lives! It is a foul scourge on this land that needs to be wiped out! We cannot leave such an evil unchecked!"_

_"Keldorn, were your eyes even open while we were down there?" Viviane demanded, "Did you see how big that thing was?"_

_"We cannot leave such an evil unchecked!" Keldorn repeated sternly._

_Viviane looked at her other teammates. "All for trying to kill the dragon now, say aye."_

_"Aye!" Keldorn exclaimed, raising his right hand._

_Silence._

_Anomen, nervously glancing at Keldorn, raised his right hand as well. "Aye?"_

_"Nay, Squire, with a bit more gusto."_

_"Aye! As a noble, er, squire of the Order, I say it is our duty to smite that which deserves smote!"_

_"Better."_

_Viconia, Yoshimo and Minsc looked among themselves. "Minsc is torn," he admitted, "Clearly slaying the dragon is among the righteous butt-kicking that needs done. But I have not yet decided who will take care of Boo when I am barbequed by the giant lizard." He said this all very calmly as he held up his hamster. "What do you think, Boo? Can you make it on your own?" The hamster squeaked. "I thought you hated her." Another squeak. "All right, if you say so. Drow-Lady, Boo has made it clear that if something happens to Minsc, you get him."_

_"I don't want your vermin," the drow priestess said, as if she wanted to sneer but was too secretly fond of the crazy ranger to do so._

_"Nonsense! Hamsters are not **vermin** , they are delightful pets! Especially Boo, as a miniature giant space hamster! But that is not the point. Boo seems to think that you will enchant him-" Boo interrupted with a squeak, "-oh, that you will turn him into a **regular** giant space hamster."_

_"Then I guess you are not allowed to die," Viconia said with a shrug._

_From anyone else, that would have been a "good luck" sort of statement. From Viconia, it was clearly a "don't you dare die and leave me that hamster" sort of statement. Needless to say, Minsc interpreted it as the "good luck" sort of statement and embraced the drow._

_"Minsc and Boo are ready to confront evil!"_

_"I have been much braver in your party that I ever thought I could be," Yoshimo began, "But Ilmater take my soul, Viviane, if we go in there, I am hiding in the shadows and crossing my fingers."_

_All eyes turned to Viconia._

_"Ah, this is stupid," Viconia admitted, "But we are in a party led by an elf. What else is there to expect?" "Heeey," Viviane protested. "So we have three ayes, one nay, one half-nay and me. And I haven't decided what I want to do yet. And let's be honest, what I decide to do is what we're doing."_

_"You know, you shouldn't give us all votes and then go ahead and do whatever you want anyway," Yoshimo pointed out._

_"You were all wrong on whether or not we wanted to spend all of our money on the Robe of Vecna. We definitely did." She huddled into her robes a little more. "Well, actually, I'm going to say we come back later..."_

_Keldorn roughly elbowed Anomen in the ribs. "You coward!" Anomen spat, terrified of his life from both Keldorn and Viviane._

_"Excuse me?" Her eyes were narrowed._

_"Think of it, Viviane! This dragon slandered your reputation, stole a boy under your nose and what do you do? You walk in and scold him! What's next? A kobold is going to attack you and you're going to ask it to breakfast? Nay, lass, nay; you **must** slay the beast now!" He was noticeably shaking._

_Viviane regarded him thoughtfully. "I thought you didn't like Keldorn."_

_Anomen nervously looked at the older paladin. "I... I have the utmost... respect for, but..."_

_"I am Anomen's **dream** , Viviane. I am that noble Knight of Order that he so aspires to be. He's very wise to mimic my actions and endorse my causes, for my causes are those of the Order he's attempting to join."_

_"So is that why you've been donating a coin to every beggar we've passed?" Yoshimo asked, clearly concerned about the money._

_"Aye. That one hasn't caught on yet, but I'm hopeful."_

_"The poor don't need money, they-"_

_"All right, maybe I'm not hopeful."_

_"Well," Viviane said, "you have a point. All right, gang! Let's go commit mass suicide!"_

_"The best battle cry I've heard yet!" Minsc gushed._

Keldorn chuckled to himself, recalling how difficult and ridiculously painful the battle with the dragon had been, but also how he now had his Holy Avenger and a very nice set of plate mail.

It was a nice feeling, the feeling that no matter what came in their way they would triumph over it. Of course, the corresponding emotion of pride in the actions of the group helped Keldorn keep hope. Not that he hadn't even questioned why he was aiding a Child of Bhaal, but the internal conflict had been short-lived.

_"Might we speak?" Keldorn asked Viviane during a quiet spell. Keldorn had been tasked with keeping watch, while Viviane was up after yet another complex and creepy dream._

_"Sure!" she said cheerfully. She already knew about his family at this point, and she and Anomen were a good declaration from being a couple, but she still tended to light up whenever speaking with Keldorn. "What's up Kelly?"_

_"... ... don't call me Kelly."_

_"Aww, but I have nicknames for all of you!" she complained._

_"Don't call me Kelly," he repeated sternly._

_"Fine. What's up?" she asked, sounding much less enthusiastic._

_"I think it's time we finally speak of your heritage," he said gravely. "Sometimes I feel that you are doing your best to be noble, but sometimes you... you simply aren't. It concerns me."_

_"This is about holding that woman hostage for a pair of pants, isn't it?" she asked, looking a little embarrassed._

_"That has something to do with it, yes."_

_"But the pants match another pair I have!" she exclaimed, reaching into her bag and pulling out a pair of gold pantaloons._

_"You don't even wear pants."_

_"... ... anyhow, I think I'm allowed to be chaotic and crazy, seeing as my entire life is chaotic and crazy. How many people can say that they get kidnapped and people try to kill them and stuff out of the blue?"_

_"And that the blood of the Lord of Murder flows through their veins," Keldorn pointed out._

_She frowned. "Yeah, that too. I like to ignore that part. I'd like to think that my blood doesn't control my behavior. If it did, then there would be a lot of dead people and sandwiches. But not necessarily dead people sandwiches. Although I wouldn't put it past Daddy; he does seem to have odd taste."_

_"... ... ... what?"_

_"And besides, I had no idea that the ransom would be for a pair of pants, and even then I have Yoshimo here who is all about getting ransom money, and seeing as you keep donating money to the poor - and after the Nalia fiasco," she shuddered as she recalled when the young noble had given **all** of their money to a very lucky group of beggars right before Viviane had been ready to pay Gaelen, "I have to do things to keep Yoshimo, and to a lesser extent Viconia, happy. It's all about party dynamics."_

_"You could try getting a better party," Keldorn pointed out._

_"But I **like** my party. It covers all the bases and no one is here to take magic scrolls from me! And Yoshimo is teaching me Kara-Turan, and Anomen is really good for my ego, Minsc makes me smile, Viconia is a drow, and you're **the man**!"_

_"'The man?'" Keldorn echoed._

_"Yup!"_

_Keldorn regarded her. "What am I going to do with you?" he asked._

_"Tell you what, Big K - if I fall to the darkness in my soul, you can smite me when you smite Viconia. Deal?"_

_"Deal," he said with a smile, certain he wasn't going to have to do it. "And don't call me Big K."_

_"Damn it!"_

Keldorn sighed and stood up. The two ladies with him looked up. "I need sleep," he established.

"G'night Keldorn!" Imoen said cheerfully.

"Weakling," Viconia sneered.

And Keldorn ignored her, as he always did. And, he acknowledged with a smile, he would continue to do.


	4. Viconia

IV.

_"Look ye all upon the foul drow!"_

Viconia had had brushes with death often in her life, both in the Underdark and on the surface. But the ones on the surface tended to stick with her longer, make her wary.

_"Burn the drow!"_

_"Aye, then the drow shall burn!"_

She had always kept an extra Fire Resistance spell memorized from that point on.

She shook her head to get her thoughts moving along, but another situation came to mind instead.

_"Help me!" Viconia exclaimed to the first people she saw, mentally cursing her luck that most of them were elves, "If you don't help me, he'll kill me!"_

_"He who?" the female asked, looking around. She spotted the Flaming Fist soldier and grimaced. "Oh, him. Okay, hide!" The female grabbed her arm and dragged her behind her; a good idea in theory, except that Viconia was taller than this surface elf and the soldier could still see her._

_"Stand aside, citizen! That woman is a drow and a murderer!"_

_"Oh no!" Ajantis exclaimed. Viconia cursed her luck again – the only non-elf was a paladin. Of course._

_"Really? Who'd she kill?" Viviane asked._

_"Er… … someone…"_

_Silence. Viviane crossed her arms and looked at the Fist critically._

_"Good enough for me," Kivan said, drawing an arrow._

_"Kivan, be nice. And you, if you don't have proof, then get lost."_

_Of course it degenerated into a fight. But it was six against one and the Fist member fell quickly. Ajantis even got a new set of armor._

_"Might I accompany you? I have nowhere else to go."_

_"So you're a girl surface drow," Viviane said, looking over Viconia critically. "So do you have whirling scimitars of death, and a noble yet suffering demeanor? Just so you know, no matter what you say I'm going to call you Drizzta."_

_Viconia reached over and smacked her on the back of the head. "My name is Viconia, darthiir, and I am a priestess of Shar. You will refer to me with respect."_

_All the men had their weapons drawn and pointing. Viviane didn't seem to notice. "Sweet! We need a cleric! And I've been trying to get as many elves on my team as I can – and you're kinda an elf –"_

_"She is not!" Xan protested._

_"And ever since Shar-Teel got killed by gibberlings-"_

_The men all looked away._

" _Yes, gibberlings," Coran said warily._

_"-we've had a spot open! Sure, you can join our party!" Viviane said cheerfully to the rescued drow._

_"What?" Ajantis practically screamed in disgust._

"Whatcha thinking about, Viccy?" Imoen asked. Some time during Viconia's thought processes Imoen had moved over so the two women were close.

"Nothing that concerns you," she replied airily, drinking water.

Imoen didn't take that as an answer. "I'm thinking about the past," she said, "Like, when Viv saved me from Irenicus, and when she got rid of me for Eldoth but ended up getting rid of Coran to get me back… and her helping me with being a Bhaalspawn, and…"

"Shut up," Viconia said disinterestedly.

Imoen glared at her. 'Now I'm starting to see why you and me never talked much. Okay, so I guess I always knew, but geez. Temper much?"

"I do not have a temper!" Viconia protested, "I am always calm!"

"Drizzta."

Viconia reached up and smacked her on the back of the head. Imoen, much like her sister had a year before, giggled.

"You immature Bhaalspawn and your refusal to accept authority," Viconia grumbled. "I consider it luck that Bhaal only had so many boys, lest I be forced to deal with masculine insubordination as well."

"Did Sarevok finally cave?" Imoen asked, a twinkle in her eye.

Viconia smirked knowingly. "Perhaps."

"Mental images I could have lived without, but I have to admit I'm proud of you. I figured he was never going to cave. But still, it's kinda weird that you did my brother." She looked a little sick. "And it's kinda weird that he _is_ my brother. Still haven't quite gotten that through my head, I think."

"If it makes you feel better," Viconia commented, "Soon after the one knight - Viviane's paramour – decided to kill some rich fool over something or another, Viviane made us all take paternity tests. The large one is not _my_ brother."

"Money she could've spent getting a magic license from the Cowled Wizards," Imoen observed.

"Yes, well, you've certainly noticed a severe lack of sanity in our comatose elf."

"It would be hard not to. I have to admit, though, sometimes she's funny. Like in the drow city!"

Viconia couldn't help but chuckle at the thought either. It was rare for Viconia to chuckle at things because they were funny versus because she was devilishly pleased, but this was a time that combined both.

_Although she had been uncomfortable with the idea initially, Viviane had warmed up considerably to the idea of being a drow. A little too much, it turned out, as Viconia was having a hard time resisting the urge to gag her._

_"I am Veldrin of Ched Nasad," the surface elf sneered to Phaere, of all people, "and you will respect me and the – uh - Bhaalryn House!"_

_Phaere seemed to be aroused, luckily. "You would do well to_ _**never** _ _speak to me in such a tone again, Veldrin, but your arrogance could prove useful in Ust Natha."_

_"Bah! Ust Natha!" Viviane theatrically tossed her head to the side. "I am here to gain favor with my Matron Mother so that I may slay her and take her role myself! I have no need of Ust Natha! Tell me what you would have me do and I will do it, if only to return to Ched Nasad that much sooner."_

_Solaufein looked as if he were silently choking on something._

_"Hmmm… yes, meet me on the platform in three days; no more, no less. I will tell you what you need to do then. Until then, enjoy yourselves in_ _**Ust Natha** _ _." The drow smiled as congenially as only pure evil can do._

_"Agreed. Male!" Viviane snapped, looking at Anomen, "I command your presence in the lust chambers."_

_"As you command," Anomen purred._

_Once Solaufein (still chortling) and Phaere had left, Viconia blurted, "I figured it out!"_

_"Figured what out?" Viviane asked, Anomen subtly tugging on her sleeve._

_"What you remind me of," the priestess said smugly, "This entire time I was wondering why I was so reminded of home in your company – you must be an albino drow!"_

_Viviane's jaw dropped._

_"Well, her eyes aren't red, so there goes that theory, but you're right! She is just like a drow matron!" Imoen gushed._

_"I think I'm going to be sick," the surface elf murmured._

_"Damn," Anomen muttered._

"Oh the look on her face," Imoen said with a big grin.

"If nothing else," Viconia said, regaining her calm demeanor as she sipped at her drink, "It was a good learning experience for her. Not that she truly needed practice in the arts of domination – her knight is a clear example of _that_ – but simply to see how it felt to be one of the superior races."

Imoen snorted and said nothing.

The two ladies sat together in silence, neither sure what to say. Finally, Viconia took her leave. "I ought to go see if perhaps Shar will heal her this time," she said abruptly. "I'm certain the knight is in a drunken stupor and hasn't bothered trying again… stupid male, can't hold his liquor…" and she ventured off.

Imoen smiled to herself knowingly.


	5. Imoen

V.

This left Imoen by herself, which made the experience that much less enjoyable. Imoen was a social creature, the exact opposite of her older sister; Imoen could fondly recall days where she had to drag the book-reading elf out of a corner of the library and outside so they could do something fun. It made Imoen a little sad to realize that Viviane had truly been made for Candlekeep.

"No use being glum!" the thief said aloud, trying to perk herself up, "There are plenty of people who've hung out with us that were more than glum enough!"

"You said it, lass!" the bartender chimed in. "Now, about the bar tab…"

"I… er… yes, bar tab…" Imoen glanced around for someone in pickpocket range – there being none, she quickly blended into the shadows and ran out the door.

"Hey!"

She giggled to herself as she ran across the Amkethran sands, hardly able to contain her glee. Despite her aptitude towards and love of magic, she always appreciated her sneakier habits.

She stared up at the sky, marveling at the cloudless nights Amkethran always seemed to have. She smiled and let the cool air play through her hair; her smile faded as it brought back a memory she'd rather have forgotten of a similar night.

"Heya, what's going on?" Imoen asked, having followed Gorion and Viviane out of Candlekeep. The elf in question was hiding up a tree, and Gorion was nowhere to be found. "Why're you up that tree? Where's Gorion?"

There was a squeak of surprise, and Viviane fell from the tree and landed on Imoen in a hug. "I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU IN MY LIFE!" she exclaimed.

"Can't breathe!"

Viviane hastily got up and started brushing herself off. "We got ambushed by a big armored dude and his friends! Daddy told me to run, so I did, and it's been a few hours and I haven't seen him since!"

Imoen stared at her like she had grown two heads. "What're you freaking out for, silly? This is like the beginning of an adventure! Let's go find Gorion and see what happens next! It'll be so cool, just you wait and see!" Imoen cheerfully grabbed both of Viviane's hands in hers and started dragging her off north.

And then they found Gorion, or what was left of him, glistening in the moonlight.

Imoen shook her head to rid her of that particular memory. It had been worse for Viviane, having been Gorion's "daughter", but it wasn't easy for Imoen to see the corpse of her foster uncle either. "You'd better be proud of us, you old geezer!" Imoen screamed at the sky. "Goin' off and dyin' like that before telling either of us what we were! Geez!"

Briefly Imoen wondered if Gorion even knew about her. Or even knew about her mother. It was weird –she knew logically, the ears and height being dead giveaways, that she and Viviane weren't full-blooded siblings, and yet she had come to think of them as being so. When Viviane had told them that she had met her mother in a vision and that she had been a Bhaalite priestess and had tried to sacrifice her, Imoen had grown indignant on their behalf, raving about their mother until Viviane tentatively reminded her that it wasn't her mother. This had set Imoen off into a different rant about how their dad was a slut and that she figured her mother was really an awesome swashbuckler, totally better than Viviane's mom, which had prompted an argument between the two about which was better, mages or thieves (despite the fact that Viviane's mom wasn't a mage, but that was beside the point), which ended when Imoen crooned that it didn't matter which was better because she was both. Viviane had thrown something at her screaming about how she wasn't really a mage and had run off.

Yup, they might as well have been full-blooded sisters.

Imoen chuckled again and sat down, laying back into the sand. She smiled fondly as she recalled the very first time that she had told Viviane she wanted to be a mage.

"Vivi, I wants to be a mage wike you!" Little Imoen squealed in joy as the two sat in a corner of the library. "Wiww you give me an extwa scwoll fow me to study?"

Little Viviane's eyes narrowed and then opened up wide in a bright smile. "Sure, Immy, hewe you go!" She handed her a scroll that just so happened to be a Cursed Scroll of Stupidity. Purely on accident, of course.

It had taken the monks of Candlekeep two weeks to figure out something was wrong with her. The thought made her angry at them for being old fiddlefaddles and yet proud of her sister for being so damn underhanded.

Imoen sighed. "I need to stop thinking about Candlekeep," she said aloud. "I mean, this is way more awesome than watching Viv read books! We're gonna go to Watcher's Keep! It'll be totally cool!"

"I'm so bored! I wanna go do something!" a young Imoen whined, jumping up and down. 

Viviane looked up from the book she was reading. "Let's go to Watcher's Keep!' she said joyfully, "I just read about it! It sounds really dangerous but with lots of stuff!"

"Ooooo, stuff!" Imoen agreed.

"And what's even cooler," Viviane continued, looking back at the book, "is that no one knows what it's there for! There are Helmite knights watching the place who refuse to say! The thought is that something's imprisoned there but no one knows what!"

"COOL! LET'S GO!" Imoen exclaimed, "I can sneak around and steal stuff and you can cast Magic Missile!"

"Those stupid Helmites will finally find out what they're guarding!" Viviane put the book back on the shelf. "Okay, Immy, go get ready and we'll meet back here in ten minutes! It's a long trip so we're going to have to steal some horses, and Daddy and Uncle Winthrop can't find out we're going because they definitely won't let us go!"

"They never let us do anything fun," Imoen grumbled. "Okay! I'll meet you here!" 

The two ran off to their respective rooms. Ten minutes later, they both came back with a bag of clothes and a bag of snack food. Imoen had pilfered three daggers and Viviane had Gorion's wallet and her spell book, complete with all of three spells – Magic Missile, Chromatic Orb, and Horrid Wilting. 

"Maybe I'll finally be able to cast Horrid Wilting!" she said with a broad grin, looking at the page in her book with the spell.

"Where'd you get it from, anyhow?"

"I stole it from Daddy's friend Khelben," she said with a grin. "He thinks I'm funny, ever since I stole his cloak, so it was easy! See, you're not the only one of us who can steal stuff!"

"I'm totally better at it. Let's go!"

A week later found the two rebels in Nashkel, completely out of food and with exactly ten gold pieces left. "I'm soooo hungry! How much further until Watcher's Keep?" Imoen whined as the two girls made camp next to the inn.

"Um… it looks like another two weeks of travel. Ish. It's hard to tell! This map is really old!" Viviane looked up at the horses. "We could sell the horses for money!"

"Or eat them," Imoen suggested, her mouth watering.

"Ewww, nasty."

"What are two girls doing out here?" a well-built man in his mid-forties asked, walking up to them. His armor was shiny, and Imoen swore she could see some sort of holy aura around him. "Are you lost? My name is Sir Keldorn Firecaam – I'm a paladin of Torm; I can try to help you find your parents, although I'm not from around here so I'm not completely familiar with the city."

Viviane was gaping in awe. Imoen decided to take over. "I'm Imoen, and big ears over here is Viviane. Can you take us to Watcher's Keep? We're going to be great adventurers one day and figured we'd start there!"

The knight chuckled. "Perhaps you ought to wait until you're a bit more experienced before going there."

"We're plenty experienced!" Imoen cried.

"I want to go with you!" Viviane exclaimed, getting up and attaching herself to Keldorn's leg. "You're so cool and shiny!"

Imoen gasped. "Vivi!"

"Immy, if the cool paladin says we can't go to Watcher's Keep, then we can't go to Watcher's Keep!"

Keldorn reached down and patted Viviane on the head. "I'll take you girls home, all right? Where are you from?"

"Candlekeep," Viviane said in a sing-song voice. Imoen sulked.

The trip home had been a good one – Keldorn had humored the two girls with stories of battles he'd participated in and adventures he'd been on. Imoen had initially decided she was going to sulk the entire way back but had to give in to Keldorn's charisma. Upon returning to Candlekeep, both girls were grounded for three weeks and forced to do nothing but chores for that entire duration, and were strictly forbidden from speaking to each other during that timeframe.

It made Imoen smile to remember it. Here they were, with the same damn paladin (she vaguely wondered if Keldorn even remembered, as it had been over 10 years ago and the man in question probably did things like that regularly), being a little more experienced and actually going to Watcher's Keep… contingent on Viviane waking up, of course…

Imoen rolled over in agitation and ended up getting a face full of sand. She rolled back over. "She'll wake up," Imoen said with a snort. "She's tough, even though she's so frickin' arrogant it's amazing she's still alive…"

"Welcome, Child of Bhaal," the fifth demon practically purred, eying Viviane as if she were a tasty snack, "We have heard much about you here."

"Oh really? Do tell."

"Stories of bravery, heroics, noble deeds and great magics!" 

"Stop, you're making me blush," she giggled.

Imoen rolled her eyes.

"There is a great and terrible evil in here that only you can slay!" the demon exclaimed. "Go forth, Child of Bhaal, and show it what it dares stand against!"

"What is-" Keldorn began.

"I'll kill it! Let's go, team!" Viviane crooned.

The demon looked as if it didn't expect this response. "Go you," the demon said. 

She walked forward with her arms up in the air dramatically. "Let's – HOLY CRAP THAT DRAGON IS HUGE!"

"Can we just leave her to do it alone?" Viconia asked with a sigh.

"She's been through worse."

Like finding out she was the child of an evil god? Imoen had it on good authority that that was pretty tough.

Viviane read Gorion's letter aloud. 

"My darling Viviane,

If you are reading this, it means I have met an untimely death. I would tell you not to grieve for me, but I feel much better thinking that you would. There are things I must tell you in this letter that I might have told you before. However, if my death came too soon then I would have never been given the chance. First off, I am not your biological father, for that distinction lies with an entity known as Bhaal. The Bhaal that I speak of is the one you know of as a divinity. In the crisis known as the Time of Troubles, when the Gods walked Faerun, Bhaal was also forced into a mortal shell. He was somehow forewarned of the death that awaited him during this time. For reasons unknown to me, he sought out women of every race and forced himself upon them. Your mother was one of those women, and as you know, she died in childbirth. I had been her friend and on occasion, lover. I felt obligated to raise you as my own. I have always thought of you as my child and I hope you still think of me as your father. You are a special child. The blood of the Gods runs through your veins. If you make use of our extensive library you will find that our founder, Alaundo, has many prophecies concerning the coming of the spawn of Bhaal. There are many who will want to use you for their own purposes. One, a man who calls himself Sarevok, is the worst danger. He has studied here at Candlekeep and thus knows a great deal about your history and who you are.

Love, Gorion"

"Huh."

The group silently stood around her.

"A Bhaalspawn!" Ajantis gasped.

"Sweet Seldarine, you're more doomed than I thought…" Xan whispered.

"The Lord of Murder shall perish," Viviane started singing softly, "But in his footsteps he shall spawn a score of mortal progeny… Chaos shall be sown in their passage; so Sayeth the Wise Alaundo…"

"Viviane?" Kivan asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. Kivan looked compassionate; Imoen felt perturbed. 

"I'm a hopeless bookworm, Kivan," Viviane said, her earlier words to him now tinted with malice, "I've read most if not all of the books in this library. I always found Alaundo's prophecies to be the most fascinating because Alaundo founded the library. But maybe it was because they were about me?"

"Come, mellonamin, let's leave this room at least," Kivan said, grabbing her upper arms and steering her out of the room. Viviane looked like she was relieved the older elf was taking over, like she wanted to throw herself in his arms and cry, and also like she wanted to punch him in the face.

The four others stood in the room, not sure what to say.

"I'd still do her," Coran offered.

"If keeping the drow meant never seeing you again, I wish we would've kept her," Xan muttered.

Imoen had to give a wry smile as she recalled how much better Viviane had taken her Bhaalness.

"Vivi," Imoen asked softly, the group spending the night in the Pocket Plane after having been attacked by fire giants while trying to sleep in the Marching Mountains, "I really, really need to talk to you."

Viviane put down her mage book. "What do you need?"

Imoen looked at the other members of the group, who were sitting around together. "It's, er, personal."

"Girl personal or Bhaal personal?"

"Bhaal personal."

Viviane stood up, brushing her robe to get the dust off, and reached down to grab Sarevok's no-longer-armored upper arm. "C'mon big brother, it's time for a sibling chat."

"For the last time, Viviane, I am no longer a Child of Bhaal-"

"Who's your father, Sarevok? In the strictest sense of the man who knocked up your mother, who is your father?"

Sarevok sighed and stood. "That would be Bhaal. Fine, I will come and share my knowledge with you, if it will make Imoen quit whining."

"I'm not whining," Imoen protested.

The three sat down on the other side of the Pocket Plane, away from Keldorn, Anomen and Viconia.

"So let's talk about Bhaal!" Viviane said cheerfully. Sarevok gave an annoyed sigh. "What's been going on?"

"I've been getting some more… abilities," Imoen said carefully, "Like, healing powers. Minor stuff. I'm just… worried that it's going to get worse."

"It gets worse," Sarevok said bluntly, "It gets much, much worse. The dreams you are having now are mild compared to that which you will suffer through in the future. The powers you will gain are weak compared to the rage that fills your blood, your very soul. Your god-blood is granting you healing powers so that you can keep yourself alive long enough to kill, kill, kill."

"During the day," Viviane added, "my blood looks at children and calls, 'Slice their throats! Slice their veins; watch their inferior blood stain the ground upon which you walk!'"

"And it's worse at night," Sarevok said knowledgeably.

Viviane nodded enthusiastically as Imoen wanted to go cry somewhere private. "Oh, yes. During the night, my blood looks at the darkness and calls, 'Slice the bread! Slice the ham, watch as you create a tasty sandwich!'"

"Yes sister, it – wait, what?"

"'But I don't have any cheese!' I respond to it," Viviane continued, "'You are weak!' it responds, 'You must find the cheese! The cheese is your destiny! You will embrace the ham, the cheese and the bread, or you are not worthy to be called a Child of Bhaal!'"

Imoen couldn't stop giggling.

Sarevok looked as if he couldn't decide what his reaction should be, other than some sort of anger. 

"Apparently Daddy has different plans for all of us," Viviane explained to Imoen, turning this into a moral lesson, "His plan for Sarevok was to let him kill things. His plan for you is probably to get some extra cash. His plan for me is to apparently make him a sandwich." She paused, "That's awfully sexist of him. And he'll be very disappointed to learn that a ham and cheese sandwich is about the fanciest meal I can make."

"That might be a bad thing if you and the An-Man keep going," Imoen pointed out.

"Actually, Anomen is a surprisingly good chef," Viviane admitted, "He makes the most delicious crepes I have ever tasted."

"… good to know."

Afterwards Anomen had been cajoled into cooking the aforementioned crepes for the whole party, and they were just as delicious as advertised.

"Great, now I'm hungry!" Imoen complained, "And I don't have any money so I can't pay the bar tab! Or… or… I could just steal it!"

She got up, cast a quick invisibility spell, and skipped back to the inn.


	6. Sarevok

VI.

 

_Sarevok had accompanied Rieltar to Candlekeep for a conference where they were sure to be uninterrupted. This was before Sarevok's awakening as a Child of Bhaal, but even at that young age he always knew there was something different, something special about him. The conference was regarding something trivial – a dispute over a nearly-exhausted iron mine to the east – and Sarevok had only come along to get out of Baldur's Gate, not for any official purposes._

_While his father and the other members of the Iron Throne discussed whatever it was they were discussing, Sarevok used the opportunity to explore the nearly legendary library, running his fingers over the spines of books with titles that uninterested him._

_"Wanna see my favorite book?"_

_Sarevok was startled by a tiny girl with ridiculously large ears betraying her elven heritage. She stood at the end of the aisle, her body hidden by the next row of books but her head peering around to look at him. She didn't look much older than a toddler._

_"I thought children weren't allowed in here."_

_The elf didn't come any closer. "I live here, wif – with – my daddy. My name's Viviane. Who're you?"_

_Sarevok – who, at the time was not yet the Terror of the Sword Coast but still not exactly kind – decided to humor her. The library was eerie, if nothing else. "My name is Sarevok."_

_The elf finally moved forward, coming to stand in the aisle. "This is great! There's no one here for me to talk to except Imoen, and she's in trouble again so she's stuck with Uncle Winthrop. I like reading the books but I'm kinda lonely. Here! I'll show you my favorite book, like I promised!" The little elf moved past him, down to the end of the aisle and to another set of books pressed up against the wall. She pulled over a small stool and stood up on it, grabbing a particularly large tone off the shelf. "This was written by Alaundo; he made the library! I like it! It says all sorts of neat stuff that's supposed to come true." She cradled the book to her chest and walked back to him. "I've read it a bunch of times."_

_"Hmmm, Alaundo's prophecies." Sarevok took the tome from her and opened it to a random page. "_ _During the days of the Avatars, the Lord of Murder will spawn a score of mortal progeny. These offspring will be aligned good and evil, but chaos will flow through them all. When the Beast's bastard children come of age, they will bring havoc to the lands of the Sword Coast. One of these children must rise above the rest and claim their father's legacy. This inheritor will shape the history of the Sword Coast for centuries to come…" Sarevok felt chills go up and down his spine, even unknowing as he was._

" _The spawn of the Lord of Murder are fated to come into their inheritance through bloodshed and misery. It is the hope of their father that only one shall remain alive to inherit his legacy. I foresee that the children of Bhaal shall kill each other in a bloody massacre_ _," Viviane recited from memory, her tone indicating she didn't understand the severity of her words. "Yup, that one's my favorite. How cool you opened up to it! I like you. We should be friends! Will you play with me? I… um… I have some unicorns upstairs, but you're a boy and boys don't like unicorns, um…"_

_"Viviane!" A gaunt old mage briskly walked over to them, lifting the young elf up in his arms. He sounded angry, but her inquisitive look didn't warrant a response from him. Instead, the old man glared at_ _**him** _ _, as if accusing him of something. Sarevok raised an eyebrow as the mage turned and briskly carried the little girl away._

_Sarevok thought nothing of it and continued to peruse the library._

The encounter in the library often returned to plague Sarevok's thoughts, although he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the presence of Alaundo's prophecy; maybe it was the future triangle of murder that would emerge from the three who met that day. Whatever it was, every time his little sister looked up at him with excitement, he couldn't help remember the young child he had met years ago.

Sitting in his silent vigil next to her was making more and more memories come to surface than he would have liked. Thankfully, very few were of his path to power and the subsequent fall thereof; most were of his time spent imagining spitting her on his blade in the Abyss and the times afterward –

_"Think of it; brother and sister side by side, as it was meant to be!" Sarevok continued, trying his best to resist the urge to get down and beg for his life back, "Together we can stand against all who dare oppose us!"_

_"Don't do it!" Imoen practically whimpered, backing up. The large ranger looked wary, the drow looked intrigued, and the two knights both looked like they didn't know what to think. Of course they didn't; they hadn't been there, hadn't seen the final battle._

_Viviane looked at him thoughtfully. Suddenly she sprang forward, wrapping the spirit in a hug, his not-yet-living-yet-still-solid form tightening in response and lack of experience with affection. "Sure! Take as much soul as you need! We'll go kick some other Bhaalspawn asses and it'll be great! Between you, me and Imoen, we can call ourselves The Three!"_

_He sighed. "This is going to be a long quest, isn't it?"_

_"You said it, big brother. Let's do this thing!"_

He really needed to leave her side now. What did he care if the stupid arrogant elf died? Besides, he was no healer; there was nothing he could do anyway. And that obnoxious priest didn't snore very loudly, but he certainly did roll about a lot. The other paladin had come in to rest in a corner and nap sitting up, but Sarevok never felt comfortable around him to begin with. Not to mention that the drow had come back, attempted to heal her and failed, and stormed off to glare in another corner.

For the first time in over a week, Sarevok stood and left that small inn room, making his way downstairs to sit at the bar. He demanded a large tankard of the strongest ale the place had and began drinking.

Honestly, sometimes – scratch that, more often than not – Sarevok wondered what in the Hells he was doing here. As he was no longer a Child of Bhaal in the important sense, the destiny of the Bhaalspawn no longer personally involved him. Oh, he'd established at the beginning he was essentially riding Viviane's coattails to power, but Viviane had made it quite clear she wasn't planning on attaining godhood any time soon, and anyway even if she were, the chances of that arrogant large-eared nutcase _sharing_ her power were nil.

What it boiled down to was that Sarevok was here and he didn't know why.

It certainly wasn't because of the company.

_"I feel no love for rodents of any size," Sarevok informed his younger sibling, "and as such were Imoen to die I wouldn't mind." "Uh huh," said Viviane to indicate she was listening._

_"That priest of yours continues to stare at me and on the occasion will mutter something about that group of paladins he allegedly belongs to."_

_"Order might be his favorite word."_

_"The other Order member is no better, in fact, as he actually has the mettle to_ _**threaten** _ _me."_

_"By now… yes, I think he's threatened to smite everyone on the team. Good for him!"_

_"And that drow… she is the only one I can almost bring myself to respect. But what concerns me is that you have quite possibly the, the 'goodest' team, save the drow and myself, possible. The constant talk of 'right and honor' makes my very lack of soul hurt. Couldn't you have assembled a group more… …"_

_"Evil?"_

_"Well, I suppose, yes."_

_"Oh geez," Viviane murmured, "who all… Well, you could have had Edwin, except I sold him to the Red Wizards."_

_"Good for you," said Sarevok proudly._

_"Then there's Korgan, I guess… maybe… is he still alive? You know, I don't know." She turned in the general direction of her teammates and yelled out, "IS KORGAN STILL ALIVE?"_

" _YES HE IS," Viconia shouted back._

_"OH, ARE YOU SURE? I COULDA SWORN I KILLED AN EVIL DWARF!"_

_"YOU'RE THINKING OF KAGAIN!" Imoen called._

_"THANKS IMMY!" Viviane smiled at Sarevok again. "I get them all so confused! Anyhow, um, who else was evil…? Viconia obviously, she's here… … … Is that it? Yeah, I think that's it."_

_Sarevok shook his head solemnly._

_"Yeah. And then you have the not-really-evil-but-not-exactly-good people, most of whom are also dead, but even then… Let's be honest, no matter who my team was, you'd hate them all anyway."_

"… … _Sister, for the first time, you have presented an argument I cannot refute."_

He had told himself it was for the power, but he wasn't getting any out of this. He also told himself it was for the chance to kill things, but ever since he'd lost his Bhaal heritage, murder had felt… lackluster at best. The spark that used to infuse his being as he slew his foes was gone. Now he was merely a trained killer without emotions, without feelings.

Except.

_Sarevok considered himself to be an intelligent fighter, but he didn't even think of his own safety as he charged through the magical storms and residuals, grabbing what he hoped was the sister he wanted to be alive and dragging her out._

_An elf, too small to be Sendai. He couldn't help the snarl that emerged from his throat at the scent of blood assaulting his nostrils._

_She had seemed larger than life as she faced down giants and armies, and as she had calmly taken and refuted every thought Sarevok had had about the nature of power. But now, lying utterly limp in his arms, he realized how frail she was. How miniscule… how_ _**small** _ _._

_He growled at the priest; the knightling didn't even give him a second glance as he took his love's face in his healing-glowing hands. All around him the team moved to heal, dissipate magic, or finish off the remaining foot soldiers of Sendai's. And yet Sarevok… he…_

_… was in shock…_

_Like he had never been before, and never would, he would vow later, again._

He didn't even realize that he had gripped the tankard to pieces in his rage, both at the stupidity of his sister (taking on an archmage priestess on her own! What madness! What stupidity!) and at rage at _himself_. What weakness something like affection –

Like _what_ –

"I'm not paying for that," Imoen said in her high-pitched voice that managed to make anything she said be not intimidating.

Sarevok growled at her.

Imoen sat down next to him, ignoring the dirty glare the barkeep was giving her. "You finally left her room! Apparently even ex-immortal pseudo-zombies need to poo every once in awhile, eh?"

The growling grew louder.

"Sheesh. You're cranky. You could try getting drunk, which is what everyone else has been doing."

"Or you could leave," he said pointedly.

"Or… I could leave… but… meh, why am I trying to talk to you anyway? I'm not the one who likes you." Imoen stood up, looking around the tavern awkwardly. "Yeah, I'm just gonna-" She gasped.

Sarevok looked to where she was staring, and his own eyebrow rose in surprise.

Viviane, clad in one of Anomen's tunics and her eyes still closed, shuffled barefoot down the stairs. Even someone who hadn't known she had been asleep for the past week would have been able to _guess_. She walked right past her siblings, coming face to closed-eyes face with the innkeeper, and said, "Cheese."

"Er?" said the innkeeper.

"I demand cheese," she said, her voice sounding hoarse, "and bread, and ham. Child of Bhaal. Give." She held out her hands.

" _Vivi_ you're awake!" Imoen exclaimed, running over and hugging her sister. Viviane didn't seem to notice, too intent on getting herself some cheese.

"Excellent," Sarevok said, "Now we can finally leave this forsaken place and get some actual work done."

Accompanied by the sound of loud thunking noises, Anomen raced down the stairs, looked around with a harried expression and then relaxed when he found his quarry. "I don't think so, milady," he said sternly but with a smile on his face as he walked over, "You shouldn't be on your feet as of yet." He picked her up effortlessly and started carrying her back upstairs.

"Cheeeeese," she called back piteously.

Imoen was grinning from ear to ear. "I knew that she would be fine!" she exclaimed, bounding up the stairs after them.

Sarevok sighed and purchased the cheese, following suit.

* * *

The next day, the six companions donned their various armors and weaponry, ready to once again embark on their quest.

"We've got two choices, if I remember right," Viviane said, looking over her journal and the map, "We can take on Abazigal now, or we can try our luck with Watcher's Keep. As a huge fan of stupid Helmites and shiny things, I vote we take on Watcher's Keep first. Besides, Abazigal isn't going to go anywhere; these guys are really not proactive at all."

"Illasara attacked us," Keldorn reminded her, "which was quite proactive."

"Who?" Viviane asked even as Anomen picked her up so she was riding him piggy-back style; it was the only way he'd agree to even let her out of bed.

"Illasara the Quick?" Imoen said, "You know, she confronted us in those elven ruins?"

"Huh? Chick with Nice Noots?"

Viconia sighed. "Yes, Chick with Nice Boots."

"She was a Child of Bhaal?"

"She was a member of the Five," Anomen pointed out.

"Nyuh- _uh_. Oh come on! Makes me wonder why they didn't ask _me_ to join. I am way better than Chick with Nice Boots. In fact," she smiled smugly, "I'm better than all of them."

Her party members rolled their eyes.

"So, anyhow, where to first?"

"Wherever you lead," Sarevok said gravely.


End file.
